'The Hunt'

It was her first night hunting. Kitted up to the eyeballs in ammunition, handguns and small blades, Alyss was ready to take on this City.
As a Titan she had the morals; to protect all human life- everything was sacred back then. Nowadays, after seeing the scum of the Earth tear apart the lives of others, and her own, her morals had since dissipated. Her body was cloaked in black, just a long sleeved shirt and tight dark gloves, as well as pair of skintight black combats. For flexibility she swapped her heavy leather boots for a lighter pair that strapped around the ankle, over the top of her trousers. To finish off she had donned a bulletproof vest- the night styled black version. The model with 'FBI' emblazoned across the chest was just a tad too obvious.
Attached to her belt was two separate handguns, with another strapped to her ankle. A blade was fastened around the top of one thigh, snugly sat in a leather pouch whose main cause was to ensure less damage to Alyss in case she fell. Extra ammunition filled her pockets - lightweight rounds, so as not to weigh her down. This was her war tonight.

Gang violence was her target tonight, and it wasn't hard to track them down through the records on her computer. She didn't care for the stupid name they gave themselves- only that they had assaulted six women and four men in the past two months. With her mind set and day-time tracking of her targets done, she had set out an hour ago for a warehouse in the heart of Steel. Tying back her hair before sprinting through the shadows across the road, she slipped into the darkness that surrounded their grimy warehouse.

The four burly men were gathered around a fire that was burning brightly in the middle of the concrete floor. Two of them sat on chairs, smoking what smelt like dope, whilst the other two were stood arguing, next to a table upon which sat three bags of unknown substances.

"I tol' ya' Mike, I can't keep sellin' this shit if it ain't legit! People are startin' to guess!"

So it was drugs then. Drugs and violence. Simple enough. Alyss sat, waiting in the shadows of the doorway, listening intently to their shouts.

"I don't care. You sell it. What happens to them happens. Nothin' I can do 'bout it."

"People will realise! We'll get turned in!"

"No-one will! Unless it's gonna be you."

"No boss, it ain't gonna be me. Listen, forget it. I'm ready to hit the town boys! Grab us some ass?"

"Heck yes, I'm buzzed as ****. I need to do somethin' before my brain melts. Fancy another break-in? Or something else?"

"Something big mate. Or someone. Someone gorgeous is what I fancy tonight."

"I want to smash someone's face in beca-"

Having had enough of them ramble on and on with the threat of danger to others very imminent, Alyss stepped out of the shadows and felt the immediate rush of adrenaline course through her blood. "Not tonight, gentlemen."

The thugs stopped in their tracks, looking at the small girl who was stood in front of them and began laughing.
"What's this? Lemme guess, church girl?"

"Here to stop us are you my darling?"

"I think I've found what I fancy doing tonight..."

"Here, here boss!"

As the men leered at her, she stood as still as possible, though her brain was cracking slightly, warning her of what had happened before. It wouldn't happen again. As the 'Boss' stumbled closer in his Coke fuelled haze, his smirk grew wider, eyes shining.

"I'm warning you beforehand. You turn yourself over to the Police-" Alyss began.

"Yeah, you can stop right there babygirl," he jeered, the men behind him laughing. This clearly wasn't going to work. She'd given them the chance to stop, but they had no intention of coming in. So, it was her final option. She couldn't make them all kill themselves- the power would be too raw afterwards, Fear would want to be let loose again and she couldn't have that. As the 'Boss' moved his hand behind him - reaching for a gun, no doubt- Alyss removed the handgun from her hip, smoothly and aimed at the man's skull.

"Wrong move, buddy." she hissed, pulling gently on the trigger. The feeling of power rushed through her as she watched the man drop to the floor without a sound. As the startled men reached for their weapons, she quickly moved her hand and after 10 seconds Alyss was throwning the bags of Cocaine onto the fire and making sure that she had left no trace she'd ever been there. In her hand was the Boss's mobile phone, which she tucked away in one of her pockets- there was information and leads on that for sure.

Strangely enough, there was no feeling of remorse that overtook her, like she had imagined but instead the swelling of extreme satisfaction. She'd saved someone from countless terrible deeds tonight and it felt good. This was her first solo kill, and as she sunk backwards into the shadows of the warehouse to observe her handiwork, she knew it wouldn't be her last.

Alyss stepped out of the shadows and smiled wickedly at the man in front of her. It was the same man as earlier- the stranger at her gate. Just this time he was dressed in black with a cruel looking scythe strapped to his back.

"I had a feeling you weren't human," she retorted. Kneeling down to the bodies that remained on the floor, she picked one of their arms up let it flop to the floor a couple of times - like a child playing with a toy. "You'd better leave, there are more coming shortly." This was a small drug deal, just another four or five were coming to pick up the goods she had thrown on the fire.

She straightened up and looked the man straight in the eye. "So, whatever you are, I'd suggest you don't tell anyone what you saw here." Fear was straining in her head- she wanted to know more of this man's mind. Aggravated, Alyss shook her head, forcing her counterpart back as she began to walk back to the shadows. When she didn't hear Dante leave, she turned back to him, more annoyed about losing control than anything else.
"Didn't you hear me, mister? I said lea-"

A rambling noise stopped her imperative. Five men walked through the door, drunk to the extreme and shouting about nonsensical things. But even in their haze, they could see their dead dealers lying on the floor, blood pouring from the wounds in the head. And the two people stood in the room with them.
"What the hell is this? Oh you are so dead." one cried.

"Imma kill then. Right now!" They five began gathering what pathetic weapons they had- knives, petty guns, chains.

Still annoyed at her guest's sudden appearance and failure to depart, she removed the handgun strapped to her right hip and aimed for the men, running at her. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Note to self, get a silencer. This was getting noisy.

She turned to her neighbour and nodded at him. "That's it. You do your job. I've done mine."

Replacing her handgun and picking up the nine bullet cases that lay on the ground around her, she gazed back at Dante. "Why are you here, may I ask?"

Alyss growled under her breath, overlaying the shiver that ran down her spine. Who was this man to call her a child? She turned around, to face the shadows behind her.

"You're still alive because you quite clearly can't die. I didn't attempt to kill you because I'm not a fool. Even if I wanted to kill you, I couldn't." Fear was screaming in her head- begging her to wait- he could be useful. She knew there was something odd about this man and her ideas were now confirmed.

"And my tone is that for me to decide, not yours. Now if you'd kindly like to leave, I'm not going to ask again." she said, flippantly.

Alyss laughed darkly under her breath, concealing her agitation.

"And I lack patience for everyone, not just your kind." she replied, returning the smirk. He mentioned her powers- how did he know? It wasn't as if she'd used them tonight, she'd only ever used telepathy in front of him. Unless he could sense these things.

Disregarding her thoughts, she focused on her professional training. What did he want?

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mister. I'm just a gun. Nothing special. Now, if you're not going to take your leave then I will, everything's clean here."

She turned away from him and with a deep breath, began to head for the door.

Alyss stumbled over the shadows that bound her feet together, causing her to fall over herself. She growled under her breath and glared at the man.

"Let me go, right now." she insisted. At his refusal, she had no choice. Activating her powers, the shadows around her feet recoiled and released her. She raised a hand and a pulsation of darkness hit the male in the chest, sending him reeling backwards into the wall. With a gasp of adrenaline, the girl took to her heels and ran for the streets.

Across from the warehouse was the alleyway that ran about half a mile from the entrance to East Side. Breathing deeply, Alyss stopped halfway down the grimy street to catch her breath, leaning against the wall, resting on her knees. Ten seconds later, she straightened up and removed the handgun from her leg, looking back at where she had been. She couldn't keep on running, this guy knew too much. Holding the gun in one hand, she raised the other to control the shadows around her, cloaking herself in them. All she could see was the darkness. And it felt like home again.

Fear was smiling in her head, glad to be back, waiting to take over Alyss's body when combat arose. Still, Alyss refused to activate her powers of terror and create her visions again- Fear was too dangerous still. Shadow mancing should be fine, but Fear remained locked away, deep inside her mind. For now.

Alyss cursed to herself as she saw the crackling purple waves that lay under her feet. How the hell did she get herself into this? All she wanted was a clean kill, in and out. No supers involved. Now here she was, fighting this necro-freak in the middle of the most dangerous City in the US! Brilliant.

Still, instincts kicked in- her training had taught her survival. Nothing of this calibre of course, but still- she could try.

“You are a fool to fight me…can you not see…I have given you a chance at becoming a deity...we could work side by side removing the degenerate filth that inhabit this planet. Between the two of us none could stand. Why do you throw away your life by trying to fight me!?”

Cocking her head, Alyss raised an eyebrow, lowering her gun slightly. All she wanted to do was rid this hole of the scum and make Steel safe again, before moving on to Jump. But there was so much to do here- a partner would be nice.
But for now he was trying to kill her, escape plan was needed. Placing her gun back in the holster, she headed alley walls and began to scale, grasping on to pipes, guttering, loose bricks, anything to keep climbing. Below her she heard something explode- it almost sounded like glass, but with a strange echo. Pieces of flying debris shot up at her back from below, tearing at her legs and neck- thank god for her bulletproof vest or she would have been cut to ribbons on her torso as well. Gritting her teeth, she carried on climbing though the feeling of blood trickling down her neck and the backs of her legs was distracting at the very least. Her escape was lucky, not professional at all.

As she reached the roof upon which Dante stood, she slumped to the side of the building, letting out an aggravated cry as her wounds touched the cold concrete. She held up a hand, trying to catch her breath.

"Okay, okay. Fighting with someone who can't die- not smart. I get it." she groaned slightly, lifting herself to her feet. "But I'm not a weakling and I can say what I like. Weapons can't hurt you, let alone words. Just let me get on with my job- we both obviously want the same thing."

She paused for a moment, watching the blood trickle from her cut arms to the floor and splatter over the concrete roof in a strange pattern. "W-what you said about working together. We quite obviously have different styles of combat. I'm mortal- but I'm hella efficient and can leave no trace. Plus, my...other powers can come in useful sometimes. But I don't like to use them. They make me feel out of control, that's why I couldn't show you. So there it is. We work together, or alone?"

She held out a wounded hand, looking expectantly at him.

Alyss smiled as he shook her hand - noting how cold he was. A tingling feeling spread throughout her skin causing her to scowl briefly, healing her wounds, but forcing an unpleasant feeling throughout her.
After getting to her feet she brushed herself down, removing her dark gloves and stuffing them in another pocket. Removing ammunition, she reloaded her handgun taking care not to throw her used magazine away, but tucking it inside another compartment of her trousers.
Organisation was key.

“The power you try to hold so desperately in check is one of your greatest weapons. One day you must conquer it or it will conquer you…the loss of control is necessary to understand how to tame a beast..."

She snorted with repressed laughter. "You have no idea. She's conquered me before and I'll be damned if it's happening again- I'm a lot stronger than I was before. Fear, as I have fondly named my other half, used to give me the most terrible visions and headaches- which I no longer get. I've already conquered her- I just don't want to tempt fate by having to release her again. My shadow powers are enough, my powers over terror and creating visions never need to be touched. I manage quite well without her."

As the man leapt from one rooftop to another, she followed suit, springing lightly from one ledge to the next. As she began talking the two jumped from building to building, escaping the sirens and yells that coursed below them.

"My story? I don't really have one." she said, watching her footing as they landed again. Hesitantly, she decided to open her true identity to the man. He wasn't going to rat her out, she could just sense it. "My name is Alyss- with a 'y' and two 's's. I just moved back from NYC to help clear up this town. And as for the death of the scum..." she looked darkly at the man beside her, as they prepared for another jump. "Let's just say I know what it's like to experience the violence at their hands. It's what cursed me with these powers in the first place- the blind terror I experienced sparked something off. No-one else need feel that way, need end up like me. So, that's why when the FBI offered me the chance to go and 'sort things out' under the guise of an IT Technician, I had to take the chance. I trail through the records in the day, remote access if I have to, find out who they are, where to find them. Steel needs cleaning up. And I can be the one to do that. Murder isn't an issue. I've seen enough action."

She stopped on the building, her face flushed with the physical endurance of frequent jumping and running. "But I'm still human, I'm mortal and I need a drink." With a large smile on her face she headed to the edge of the building and looked over the edge, stepping lightly onto the concrete ledge. "For me, that's enough tonight. We have to be subtle, too many kills draws attention. Especially with all the same MO- shooting efficiently, clean- obviously military, and the mob are getting better at tracking people down. Anyway, I could carry on working my genius all night but- I could use a gin."

With that, she let herself fall from the top of the building, grabbing on to the piping that jutted from the wall and swung herself the remaining 6ft to the floor. She looked forwards, moving swiftly from they alleyway- they were far enough away to remain hidden- but she really did need a drink, something to cool her nerves and her aching muscles.

Necati smiled darkly under the guise of darkness as he listened to Alyssa’s story. So she was indeed forged by fire. Her insatiable spark for justice and revenge was what drove her. It was what made her strong and demanded her actions…it was what brought out the dark from the reaches of her soul. Listening carefully to the rest of the story a frown crossed his face at the mention of her other powers and the control they had exercised on her. It was not so long ago that he too was human and had become consumed by another becoming death. It was the day that he embraced the power from which he fell into the darkness never to return and now he was this. If Necati would have been capable of feeling anguish it would have been now.

His face was drawn in a hard line the gears of his mind spun wildly. She was what he wanted to be both supernatural and mortal not some creation of the dark. Even with his cold logical mind he could still feel jealousy and see the value in emotions. Every day he watched people interact with each other and he envied the joy, laughter and love that he saw. Shaking his bright silver head to clear his mind Neacti lightly leaped over the edge after the girl landing silently next to her in the alley. She was right as was normal, to many killings would draw the attention of all the low lives in this town and thus by extension possibly draw out the titans and that was simply something that could not be allowed. Following her out of the ally they stopped for a moment as they gathered their bearings. Necati’s sharp eyes saw what appeared to be a quite tavern a few blocks up, cracking as genuine a smile as Necati could he said,

“Well since I have undoubtedly succeeded and screwing up your plans for the evening while at the same time coming off as a contemptuous and elitist asshole allow me to buy you a few drinks as an apology. After all we need to celebrate our first successful night of righting this world.”
Putting out a lone hand he offered it to the girl as with the other he gestured to the bar down the street. His mind was whirling; she had trusted him with the truth it was only common sense that he should do the same. After all how could he expect her to work with him and watch his back if he never let her close enough to know what haunted him. Taking a deep breath he decided that he would shed a little light and that would be enough for now. After all she was human.

“For the record my Name was Necati before I became this *there was a tone of disgust* so long ago…and allow me to say this without even a shadow of a doubt in your mind I am truly sorry for the evil this world has extracted upon you. Over my many years of life I have become jaded and desensitized to the human condition and find myself distancing my thoughts and actions from what I know is needed. I wish with my mind and what is left of my soul that I could wipe the face of the planet clean and start the world over in its perfect…pure form. However, there are strong chains that bind me and I can only go so far before fate tugs on my leash and returns me to my place.”

*turning away his face became a dead pan as his voice fell in tone and became dejected*

“ For one claiming to have conquered death and to rule the darkness I simply have not lived and have become the shadow of the life I once had. Yes it was my choice and yes I traded humanity for the power to be death and it is a price that I must pay. With every action and use of my power I rip a little more of my soul away and watch my humanity fade into the dark oblivion. I have lost the control that you seek to keep. You…however are what I have been waiting for…you have the power…the drive and the freedom to right this world and start it a new. Alyssa your gifts are far too great to be left to decay and rot. So now that all else has failed and I am required to place my faith in humans…I have chosen you. You will purge the earth and free me from my chains. It will be you and not the titans that bring us back into the light.”

Pausing he forced out a half hearted chuckle from his chest.

“Now I have gone and done it again with the being creepy bit. Just ignore me and let’s go get you a drink before I drive you mad.”

Putting out his hand once more he flashed his immaculate teeth in jovial smile. Hopefully she would take the offer.

Listening intently, Alyss's face dropped slightly and her expression saddened to hear Necati speaking so against his own life. He could life forever, what was wrong with that? But his verbose speech didn't make it seem all that appealing. Taking his hand to steady herself from the landing, she nodded at him gratefully.

"I appreciate the help to finish this. But my other powers can rot for all I care. Fear doesn't deserve a second chance, she can stay locked up where she belongs." Alyss tapped her head and grinned. "Anyway, I don't think we should go to a bar when I'm in combats and carrying the PD armoury on my hips. My house is only two blocks from here, we can just go there I guess. Man, do I need a shower and a stiff drink." she laughed highly, trying to rub the grime from her hands. She began to walk in the direction of her home, keeping an eye out for people walking past. If anyone saw them, they needed to hide - thank God they were both shadowmancers. The night was theirs.

"Your humanity is something worth keeping. I learnt to get mine back through training- but to be fair, I only experienced extreme emotion under the influence of Fear, she was a maniac to say the least. Nowadays, I have control over it. And as you mentioned the Titans, having been involved with them when I was last in Jump, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention my real name to them- they don't know I'm here. And it'd be preferable to keep it that way."

She turned a corner, pointing to the house that he recognised from earlier that week. "That's mine. I'll get the drinks this time- but you can order a pizza," she said, winking at him. The code to open her door - George Orwell's 1984 - her favourite novel from a few years ago. The gate swung open and she waved Necati inwards.
"Ladies first."